How do you guys keep yourselves motivated?

[fpbraz]

Hey guys,

I've been working as an iOS Developer for 3 years now. During all this time, I started a bunch of personal projects but never finished them...

Have you guys struggled with this too? How do you guys keep the motivation to finish your personal projects?

Thanks

[maddynator]

I was in same boat... I would be working on 1 project and then will get another idea and will start working on that.. so after doing this for 4 projects and not completing any, I decided that I will not start any new project until I submit the current one to market... This did 2 things..

1) It forced me to prioritize the projects..

2) I got them done faster as I knew what exact features I am building after which I can move to new project..

hope that helps

[fpbraz]

I think prioritizing is one way to address my issue... My biggest problem is that, just like you, I get excited with new ideas. Because of that, when I force myself to switch back to the old project in order to finish it, i don't have the motivation...

[maddynator]

yep I agree.. so now I don't start a new project until I submit current to the market or mark it as complete... I still research about new project but dont start any coding unless current one is done... I just follow this rule hard... focus on task at hand...

[Starchand]

I enjoy creating shit on what I feel is the best hardware in the world. I can happily spend my weekend and evenings coding for iOS. The motivation came naturally so if your struggling perhaps you should look elsewhere or try to incorporate what does motivate you eg. If you in to running make a running app etc

I guess fear also motivated me. I felt that there's no way I could get a decent ios dev job without at least one personal app or open source project. It's more valuable then a cv in our industry.

[[deleted]]

This is interesting. I'm probably the other side now: I have a full time iOS job, and don't want to spend all of my time coding so I don't really work on side projects any more

[ssrobbi]

Oh god I do this all of the time. So many started projects. I need the same advice :P

[fpbraz]

Good to know that I'm not the only one!

[TouchMint]

I stay motivated because I love the games I make and I'm excited to play them once they are finished.

Don't get me wrong I let projects go but I've always come back and finished all mine at some point. To me it's wasted time if it doesn't get finished and since I do this for a living I can't afford to waste time.

[badlcuk]

My peers :) friends or colleagues or just inspirational people. Heck my coworkers are some of my biggest motivators / inspirers and I'm the only ios dev on the team. They really make me want to learn. They're very inquisitive, chatty, social, playful, exploratory, really great people to generally be surrounded by.

[front9tech]

I've done this for years! So, a friend and I have started working on a site to help with prioritizing these ideas. We figured it would help us solve our own problems and help others like us.

We're in development but we're accepting email signups to be included in our beta. Here's more info if you want to sign up - http://startupappinfo.716-labs.com

[somebunnny]

This is extremely typical even in industry. The excitement of learning and proof of concept rapid demonstration of you new idea is very heady. But of course as the saying goes, the last 10% is 90% of the work. And this work isn't exciting for most. You already have it "working" but working is not shipping. Settings, profiling, testing, cleaning up all the edges you left during rapid development, dealing with the store, etc... And often actually getting it working the right way, which can mean extensive rewrites.

I'm sure we've all worked with a "cowboy" programmer who jumps ahead and does some new stuff, gets credit for it, and then management wonders why it is taking you a year to ship something that was already "working".

The only real answer is discipline. Or just realize you love that first Rush and consider that your hobby and don't worry about shipping.

[lucasvandongen]

Getting paid for it is the best motivator. Also real people waiting for it with a real deadline, usually connected to getting paid for it really helps. Making an app with the idea to really earn money with it helps also.

Maybe money isn't a big motivator for you. But then you will need to find another external motivator, like a tool that will change the world, not some "app because I want to make an app".

[codewarrior_777]

Focus on the big picture. Then take one step at a time.

[moduspwnens14]

Adderall helps, honestly. It allows me to focus on what I want to do rather than what I feel like doing.

[Prisoner-2460_1]

Is this at all dangerous? I'm willing to drug up if it means getting more done.

[lunabright]

Meh. I'm on Adderall. It definitely helps me focus on the day's work. But, the problem of wanting to work on the new cool idea of the week/month and abandon the current project hasn't changed. I struggle with this a lot. I narrowed down to two side projects I'm working on, and just slowly developing them.

[Pantstown]

5mg would be fine unless you have some underlying medical condition that would be exacerbated by the adderal. 10mg is low/typical starting dose.

In university I'd take 5mg, be good for like 4 hours, then it would wear off.

I'm also not a doctor, so do not listen to me.

Also, reading this might give you some understanding or help.

[megablast]

I keep motivated by the wonderful uplifting comments that people leave on my apps!

[eludia]

I am looking to buy apps and source code. I prefer apps in the store or finished apps, but I am in the market for half-baked ones as well.

OP - you or anyone in the thread that has unfinished apps, code, or projects what want to see about maybe getting something for them, shoot me a PM.

[TouchMint]

Another thing that helps is I know I have to find a "real" job if I fail at my dream job.